Price to Pay
by InuLover46
Summary: What would have happened if Loki hadn't fallen off the Bifrost... but was still seething with rage at Odin for all he had done?


"...Because no matter how much you claimed to love me, you could never have a frost giant sitting on the throne of Asgard."

"What, because I... I... am the monster parents tell their children about at night?"

"So I am no more than another stolen relic? Locked up here until you might have use of me?"

Odin awoke after much stir from his Odin sleep, his eye opening to the light for the first time in a long time. How long had he been asleep? Not even he, the All-Father, knew the answer to that question. Through his groggy awakening, Odin could feel that something wasn't right, that something had changed.

He was no longer in his chamber; that much he could tell. The walls were of a different colour than the pure and solid gold ones he last laid his eye upon. The gold walls with their glorious carvings had been replaced by a deep emerald, which were engraved depictions of snakes, wolves, and... Loki. Just how long had he been in his slumber?

He tried to move his olden muscles, which screamed their own silent song as he moved, and slowly got off the poor excuse of a bed that he had been placed on. He hadn't a clue where he was, this room didn't even jog the slightest memory. To be honest, he didn't even know if he was still in his palace... or Asgard for that matter. His body was in so much pain, like he hadn't moved in 10,000 years. He couldn't even recall his last memory, everything felt as if it was just one giant blur. Almost like all his memories of just before his sleep had been taken away from him somehow.

He had not been awake long; he hadn't even collected himself enough to find the exit of the room before those very doors swung open and two guards stood tall in the door way. He could tell that they were guards from their stance, standing tall without ever looking anyone in the eyes. However, they looked completely different than what he could recall from his failing memory. They wore green and gold amour and robes, and something that stuck Odin as odd. They wore helmets that looked strikingly similar to Loki's headgear, just not as impressive as the Trickster God's own.

Before Odin could even speak, a third guard appeared from the door way, this one looking more important than the other two, and spoke directly to Odin.

"Odin, after 5000 years of slumber you have awoken. Your presents has been noticed by the king of Asgard and he requests that you be brought to him immediately." The guard declared, his tone leaving no room to argue. With that the self-important guard spun on his heel and left the room, knowing full well that Odin would be following right behind him. With not a choice of his own, Odin sighed and followed the guard out of the room and into the great halls.

The guards were proof enough that he was indeed still in the Asgard palace. But that right now wasn't the main thing the father of battles was thinking about. What truly plagued his mind was how he had fallen asleep for 5000 years. His removed memories could not aid him in trying to figure out the events that led up to this. He could remember being out of the Bifrost, but he could not remember why he had been there, or what had happened. But that was long ago, and Odin felt the events out there all those years ago lead to whatever had caused all this.

Torches still hung from the walls, but other than that there was nothing left that was even remotely the same. The floor beneath the old king's feet had changed. It was a blacken floor, with carvings that were lined with silver to really make the designs stand out. Even the windows had changed, as they were now all covered in a thick black material to stop any sun from leaking in. This left the only light to be the flickering fire that danced off the emerald walls.

The All-Father, who had been lost in his thoughts, was shoved by a guard who had followed them during some point in their walk to the throne room. Odin wanted to protest, but he knew... he knew that his son had done something to change how the guards treated him. The last Odin remembered not a single one of the guards would dare to touch him, let alone shove him along. So indeed, Odin thought, Loki must have done something.

The walk did nothing for poor Odin's bones, for they cried for a rest. He slept for too long, and started moving again far too soon after he awoke. But none of the guards seemed to care. It wasn't until they reached the throne room doors that he was able to stop for a brief moment while the doors opened up to the vast room.

To no surprise, Odin found that the throne room was vastly different. The only thing that was still the same was the throne itself. It was still the same golden throne it had been since the palace was created. But none of that Odin cared about. All he cared about now was the man who sat upon the throne.

His son still looked the same, wore the same type of garments he always did, had the same posture. His raven black hair was slightly longer, but that was just a given. To the eye of a stranger, Loki would seem as if he was still the same man he was back many many millennia's ago. But to Odin, he could see it all. The pent of fire that burned within his son, the hatred that caused the horns on his helmet to become as gnarled as his own very soul, the anger that cascaded from his glance down at his father.

With a wave of Loki's scepter, all the guards left the two of them alone in the great room. Odin was not scared of his son, but the way he acted did not bring him any ease.  
"What do you remember?" Loki sneered as he stood from his throne. Though light, his footsteps still echoed off the throne room's walls as he made his way down the steps to where the All-Father stood.

"I remember you being my son, and raising you, and being your father." Odin replied with the gentle tone that he had always used with Loki when the boy was still growing up. However, Odin was not dumb; he knew exactly what Loki was implying, so he continued on. "After the incident on the Bifrost, I cannot recall anything."

The lines that had appeared on Loki's forehead at the old king's indecisive answer dissipated when heard what he had wanted to, and his facial expression was replaced with devilish smirk.

"Everything that you ever loved... anything that you ever cared about is gone. I did the same as you had done to me All-Father, I took your world and removed it from beneath your feet." Loki jeered; standing mere feet away from the man he once stupidly called his father. Odin looked up at his son, and Loki's expression spoke louder than the man's words ever could. But as if to just drive the point home, with a grin Loki added

"But it doesn't end here... you have much to pay for all your crimes against your king."

And Odin knew well that the little boy that he raised from infancy was now gone, and that the man who took his place would show him no mercy.


End file.
